They hired thirty and two thousand chariots - The reading is corrupt. Such a number as 32,000 chariots alone was never brought into battle on any occasion. Compare the numbers in Exo 14:7; Kg1 10:26; Ch2 12:3. The largest force which an Assyrian king ever speaks of encountering is 3,940. The words "and horsemen" have probably fallen out of the text after the word "chariots" (compare Ch1 19:6). The 32,000 would be the number of the warriors serving on horseback or in chariots; and this number would agree closely with Sa2 10:6, as the following table shows:

Sa2 10:6 Men Syrians of Beth-rehob and Zobah 20,000 Syrians of Ish-tob 12,000 Syrians of Maachah 1,000 Total 33,000 Ch1 19:7 Men Syrians of Zobah, etc. 32,000 Syrians of Machah ( number not given) 1,000 Total 33,000